1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a device for covering the cargo space of a passenger vehicle with a cover shade including louvers, which is movably guided on lateral guide rails and can be transferred into a storage position behind a seat arrangement to open the cargo space.
2. Description of Related Art
Published German patent application DE 199 06 648 A1 discloses a louvered shade-cargo bottom which is also used as a luggage space cover for a passenger vehicle. The shade-cargo bottom is movably guided on lateral guide rails which are mounted on either side in the cargo space, and on guide rails which are mounted on lateral boundaries on the rear seat back of a seat arrangement. To open the shade-cargo bottom, it is manually pushed completely to the back of the rear seat back. The rear seat back is then folded forward to increase the size of the luggage space. The shade-cargo bottom can now be pushed to the rear on the bottom lateral guide rails and, with its bottom, can be used as a base for loading articles. The maximum length of the shade-cargo bottom corresponds to the height of the rear seat back.
Published German patent application DE 198 25 353 A1 discloses a cargo space cover for station wagons including a web-shaped, rollable cover shade which can be removed from the vehicle and also unrolled for closing against the spring force of a winding shaft. The cover shade can also be pulled out over the cargo space. The cover shade contains a retaining rod on its back end. The two ends of the retaining rod are detachably held on respective drivers. Each driver is part of a drive unit which movably guides the driver on the inner lengthwise sides of the cargo space. Each drive unit contains its own drive motor. To ensure synchronism of the two drive motors when the cover shade is pulled out, at least one of the two drive motors can be controlled by means of a rpm monitoring unit and a control unit with respect to its rpm.
Therefore, one object of the present invention is to provide a structurally simple cover device which can be easily operated and flexibly used.
The above object and other objects are achieved by providing a cover shade including flexurally stiff louvers and a drive means connected to the cover shade for opening and closing the shade. Instead of manual operation, the cover shade can be easily actuated by a motor via an actuating switch on the rear of the vehicle, on the rear gate and/or on the dashboard or generally in the area of the driver.
In one preferred embodiment, the drive means contains a drive motor with two synchronously drivable drive cables which drive the cover shade on its two lengthwise sides. The drive cables engage a driven wheel of step-down gearing and are synchronously moved at the same time so that the cover shade is uniformly guided on the guide rails on its lengthwise sides thereby preventing jamming or blocking. The drive cables run in a manner of Bowden cables from the drive motor to the guide rails and can thus be matched to the installation position in the vehicle and can be flexibly laid. The louvered cover shade can be moved in its guides by both pushing and pulling.
Feasibly, the opened cover shade can be removed from its storage position in order to increase the size of the cargo space for holding bulky items. If the cover shade can be rolled up on the front end or in the area of the, front end of the guide rails and is detachably connected to the drive means, the cover shade can be removed from its storage position as a rolled-up package. The cover shade is supported with the capacity to be wound up, for example, on the back rest of a seat arrangement bordering the cargo space, for example, a rear bench seat. The cover shade may be wound up in, for example, a holding means which is detachably connected to the seat back in a roughly cylindrical roll-up space. The cover shade with the holding means can be completely removed from the backrest. Alternatively, the cover shade can be folded forward with the foldable seat back, by which the cargo space is enlarged, but without the cover shade having to be completely removed. But in both cases it is especially preferred that the cover shade is coupled in a detachable connection to the drive parts of the drive means which are movably supported on the lateral guide rails. In this way, the cover shade can be easily decoupled completely from the drive.
The flexible connection between the drive motor and the guide rails formed by the drive cables makes it possible for the drive motor to be located under the cargo space bottom. The drive motor can then be located in the middle or to the side both on the front end and also on the back end of the cargo space bottom.
One alternative configuration calls for the cover shade to be deposited in a receiving means located on the seat back of a seat arrangement. The receiving means is preferably securely attached to the seat back and can be folded down with the seat back. The receiving means contains a lengthwise receiving space into which the cover shade is, for example, pushed or pulled through a top slotted opening. The individual louvers may be arranged in any manner tightly against one another to fill the receiving space while saving room.
Preferably, the receiving means, which is located behind the seat back, contains lateral guides for the cover shade which adjoin the guide rails when the seat back is folded up and which keep the cover shade in the receiving space in the orderly storage position.
When the lateral guides have a bottom, especially U-shaped guide section for deflecting the cover shade, a space-saving, two-layer storage position of the cover shade in the storage space is allowed by the cover shade, which is first guided downward, after its deflection being guided upward again. Thus, a comparatively long, louvered cover shade can be used which is also suitable for coverage also for long cargo spaces.
The drive means of the present invention has at least one compressively stiff drive cable which is guided on the receiving means and is connected to the cover shade. The drive motor of the drive means can be located, for example, on the seat arrangement and preferably in the area of the receiving means.